Apparatus for making chlorine



UNITED STATES c PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST SOLVAY, OF BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, ASSIGNOR TO THE SOLVAY PRO- OESS COMPANY, OF SYRAOUSE, NEV YORK.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING CHLORINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,198, dated June 17, 1890.

Application filed February 14, 1889. Serial No. 299,920. (No model.) Patented in Belgium January 5, 1888, No. 82,050.

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST SOLVAY, of Brussels, Belgium, have invented. new and `useful Improvements in an Apparatus for Decomposing Chlorine, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improved furnace, and has for its object the production of a furnace especially adapted to produce or evolve chlorine gas by the use of a minimum amount of fuel; and to this end it consists, essentially, in a tower, preferably cylindrical in form, constructed of brick or other suitable material and surrounded by thick envelopes of non-conducting material, preventing radiation and a consequent loss of heat, a crown or number of pipes or other conductors opening into the furnace at points interposed between the top and the bottom thereof and conducting carbonio-monoxide gas or other fuel into the furnace, an opening in the upper part of the furnace for the insertion of the material to be acted upon, and an opening in the bottom thereof for the admission of cold air.

In describing my invent-ion reference is had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which like letters indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is a vertical section of my improved furnace with a portion of the upper part broken away, illustrating the relative arrangement of the component parts thereof; and Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line x Fig. l, further illustrating the furnace.

A represents the furnace, made of any suitable material, of any desirable shape and form, but which is preferably made of masonry in a cylindrical form. The furnace A is surrounded or inclosed by thick envelopes of non-conducting material B, eectually preventing loss of heat by radiation and reducing the amount of fuel necessary in decomposing the material inserted thereinto.

For the purpose of inserting into the furnace the material to be decomposed therein, I provide an opening A,having a removable cap or door c, allowing the aperture A to be readily uncovered or opened when desired. In the lower part of the furnace, preferably the bottom thereof, I provide the opening A2, into which discharges the pipe O, which con` ducts air, preferably cold, into the bottom of the furnace, for a purpose `presently described.

To prevent the filling up of the exit c of the pipe O, I provide thereover the cap D, preferably formed of conical-shaped plates for forcing the material away from the exit and allowing the ready entrance of the air into the furnace.

In the lower part of the furnace A, I provide the openings A3, having doors or caps removably secured thereover for the purpose of allowing the material, when decomposed or acted upon, to be readily removed from th furnace.

At a point midway between the top and bottom of the furnace, about central therewith, I provide a number of apertures or tuyeres, preferably arranged in a circle. Discharging into the furnace by means of the openings or tuyeres are the branch pipes E, connected to the main or feed pipe F, supplying the pipes E, and opening from the discharge G of a suitable furnace G, which may be, as illustrated, formed or built on one side of the furnace A, or maybe built in any suitable position and then connected to the main F. The furnace G is filled with coal or other fuel, and the, fire is so regulated as to produce an abundance of carbonio-monoxide gas, which is conducted up the discharge or flue G of the furnace G to the pipe D', and is thence conducted by the pipes E through the tuyeres T into the center of the furnace for producing combustion within the furnace. This furnace is especially adapted for the production of chlorine gas from a mixture of calcium chloride or other suitable chloride with a clay-like substance which has been previously calcined, as in my process application of even date herewith. The mixture is inserted into the furnace at the opening A until the furnace is filled, and the carbonio monoxide soon heats the material adjacent to the tuyeres for a short distance above and below the same to a white heat, and the mate- IOO rial or clay immediately above that heated to i white heat will of course be heated to a red eat.

Chlorine has a great affinity for carbonic monoxide, forming therewith oxychloride of carbon or carbonyl chloride, from which the chlorine cannot be recovered in an active state. To prevent this union of the chlorine, it has been customary in furnaces to evolve the chloride by means of heat applied to the outside of the furnace, thus requiring a tremendous amount of heat and a consequent large expense for fuel in proportion to the chlorine evolved.

In my furnace I introducel the carbonic monoxide or other fuel into the center of the mixture to be decomposed and effect a combustion within the furnace; but the peculiar arrangement of my furnace produces several zones, viz: the zone of combustion, which begins exactly at the level of the pipes, where the material is at a white heat, as previously described, and extends only a short distance below the level of said pipes; the zone of decomposition, where the material is at a red heat, as also previously described; and the zones of recuperation, one above the decomposition zone, and the other below the combustion Zone, as will be presently explained.

In order to prevent the formation of oxychloride of carbon, it is necessary that the materials shall be thoroughly decomposed before reaching the zone of combustion. By means of the peculiar arrangement of the pipes conducting fuel into the furnace and the non-conducting envelope preventing radiation of the same this object is obtained, as the heat is sufficiently intense and the combustion sufficiently perfect to decompose the mixture before its contact with the carbonio monoxide in the combustion zone. The air ascending from the bottom of the furnace is in excess of that required for the combustion of the fuel, and the carbonic monoxide is further prevented from entering the decomposition zone by reason of this excess of air, as an atom of oxygen is absorbed by the carbonic monoxide forming earbonic anhydride or carbonie dioxide, which has no affinity for the chlorine, and does not injure the reaction of the chloride in the decomposition of the clay. Considerable loss of heat would accrue in the furnace from the discharge through the opening A4 in the upper part thereof of the gases formed therein, since they would carry away a great proportion of heat if not prevented by the peculiar arrangement of the furnace. The material above the zone of decomposition is of considerable bulk and weight, and is substantially cold, and when passing through the same the gas is caused to lose its heat, thus forming the upper Zone of recuperation and heating the material before its entrance to the zone of decomposition and causing the gas to pass out substantially cold without liability of any heat being carried out of the furnace. The material constantly forces itself to the bottom of the furnace as decomposition and combustion go on, and again a still further loss of heat would accrue by reason of the decomposed material carrying away a considerable quantity of heat therewith to the bottom of the furnace. The cold current of air constantly ascending from the bottom of the furnace passes through this heated material and causes it to become cooled and to heat the cold air before its union with the fuel, thus aiding combustion and preventing a loss of heat in the furnace. In some eases I also find it advisable to mix with the chloride mixture particles of a refractory material, which also reduces the amount of fuel required in the evolution of the chlorine. It will thus be seen that by making the combust-ion zone midway in the furnace with an amount of material above and below the same the arrangement of the parts of the furnace insures perfect combustion, and the great heat prevents the formation of oxyehloride of carbon, while the amount of material in the upper part of the furnace prevents the carrying away of heat by the gases formed, andthe current of air entering from the bottom of the furnace prevents the loss of heatby the descending decomposed material, thus evolving chlorine without danger of its union with the carbonic monoxide and preventing loss of heat in the evolution thereof. Moreover, the thick envelope of non-conducting material preventing radiation and the peculiar arrangement of the furnace reduce to a minimum the amount of fuel necessary to evolve the chlorine and greatly lessen the cost of production.

IVhile this furnace is especially adapted for the production of chlorine gas, it will be readily apparent that the same can be used for other purposes, and is equally fitted for the production of any gas or other chemical which, from an affinity for carbonio monoxide, would, in its production or evolution, be liable to combine with the same, forming a compound, from which it could not be recovered without increasing the cost of production.

Instead of inserting carbonio monoxide into the furnace, as described, a current of air charged with solid fuel in the shape of dust might be inserted, or other ways of inserting the fuel might be used without changing the operation of my furnace. Moreover, the detail construction and arrangement of the furnace might be greatly varied from that described without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence I do not limit myself to its precise form and construction.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The herein-described furnace, consisting of a high tower ineased by an envelope of non-conducting material, an opening in the upper end of the tower for the admission of the material to be acted upon, an inlet in the opposite end of the tower for the admission of a current of air, a cap over said inlet for preventing the filling up of the same, tuyeres IOO IIO

interposed between the opposite extremities of the tower, and pipes or other conveyers conducting fuel into about the center of the furnace, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In afurnace for the decomposition of chlorides in the dry state, a high tower incased by envelopes 0f non-conducting material, an opening in the upper part of said tower for the admission of the material to be acted upon, an inlet in the opposite extremity of the tower for the admission of a current of air, a cap over said inlet, said cap being of conical shape for shedding the material to the outside thereof, openings for removing` ERNEST SOLVAY. W'itnesses:

G. HORRY, J. A. FRsTENHoFF. 

